“The Urbanization of Happiness” with Teddy Cruz and Fonna Forman

Episode 64:

Originally broadcast: February 9, 2014

Think about the cities you love and the cities you hate. Think about those that work and those that are falling apart. What influences their character, and, perhaps, more importantly, why do some succeed and others fail? This episode of Why? asks these questions and takes a special look at how design creates urban problems, and how what and where we build encourages violence, poverty, and unhappiness.

Teddy Cruz and Fonna Forman are both Faculty members at the University of California, San Diego. Teddy is an architect and urbanist working out of the department of visual arts. He is the director of UCSD Center for Urban Ecologies. Fonna is a political theorist in the Department of political science and Co-Director of the UCSD Center on Global Justice. She is also the author of Adam Smith and the Circles of Sympathy and editor of the journal The Adam Smith Review.

Teddy and Fonna are both Special Advisors to the City of San Diego on Civic and Urban Initiatives, leading the City’s new Civic Innovation Lab.